Abbey of Saint-Marcellin de Chanteuges
Priory of Chanteuges / S. Marcellini Cantogilensis / Cantoiolum
(Chanteuges, Haute-Loire)
The monastery of Chanteuges was founded by Cunabert, provost of the canonry of Saint-Julien de Brioude (Haute-Loire), who had inherited numerous properties from his uncle Claude, lord of Chanteuges. In agreement with the chapter of Brioude, he dedicated those estates to the foundation of a monastery. The foundation act was carried out in Brioude in 936. Although the founder was a canon of Brioude, and despite Claude’s wish to establish a new canonry, a Benedictine monastery was created with the aim of establishing a community under stricter observance.
The initiative received support from the duke of Aquitaine and from Dalmas, abbot of Brioude. Nevertheless, the monastery of Saint-Marcellin de Chanteuges (dedicated to Saint Marcellinus, bishop of Embrun) was not placed under the authority of that canonry. To carry out the foundation, Arnulf, abbot of the monastery of Aurillac (Cantal), was called upon to oversee the construction and to populate it with monks from that abbey. In 941, Louis IV of Overseas confirmed the monastery’s possessions and granted it a charter of immunity. The foundation and rights of the abbey were later confirmed by a bull of Pope Calixtus II in 1119.
The first abbot of Saint-Marcellin de Chanteuges was Oblerius. Around 1130, Itier de Mandulphe de Digons attacked and seized the abbey, forcing its abbot and some monks to take refuge at La Chaise-Dieu (Haute-Loire). This occupation continued until 1137, when that abbey took over Chanteuges with the consent of the bishopric of Clermont and the chapter of Brioude, which renounced the rights it still retained. In 1142, Pope Lucius II confirmed this change.
Central apse
In 1145, La Chaise-Dieu completed the restoration of the monastery’s structures, and Chanteuges continued as a dependent priory of that congregation. In fact, some abbots of La Chaise-Dieu had previously been priors of Chanteuges. It also became a residence for abbots; one of them, Jacques de Saint-Nectaire (1491-1518), restored the church and erected the chapel of Sainte-Anne. Chanteuges served as a refuge for the La Chaise-Dieu community in the mid-16th century during the Wars of Religion. Monastic life at this site ended with the Revolution.
Despite the abandonment that followed its suppression, the priory still preserves valuable architectural remains. The church, with three naves and no transept, has a chevet with three apses, the central one rebuilt. The building was restored after 1137, when it passed to La Chaise-Dieu, and again at the end of the 15th century. It preserves a remarkable set of medieval capitals, the result of different construction phases. Also noteworthy is the chapel of Sainte-Anne (15th century), with its fine sculptural decoration. The cloister and other conventual buildings date from later periods. The whole site underwent restoration and rebuilding works in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Boat with a holy abbot between two griffins
Boat with a holy abbot between two griffins
Man between two wolves
Woman among vegetation
Man among vegetation
Choir-stalls
Choir-stalls
Choir-stalls
Choir-stalls
Choir-stalls
Door of the Sainte-Anne chapel
Door of the Sainte-Anne chapel
Door of the Sainte-Anne chapel
Door of the Sainte-Anne chapel
Door of the Sainte-Anne chapel
Cloister
Cloister
Cloister
Church floor plan
Published in Saint-Marcellin de Chanteuges : un monument-clé... (1997)
Illustration from L'ancienne Auvergne et le Velay (1843)
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- CABRERO-RAVEL, Laurence (1997). Saint-Marcellin de Chanteuges : un monument-clé dans l’histoire de l’art roman auvergnat. Cahiers de la Haute-Loire : revue d'études locales. Le Puy-en-Velay
- CRAPLET, Bernard (1972). Auvergne romane. La nuit des temps, 2. Zodiaque
- DONIOL, Henry (1863). Cartulaire de Brioude. Clarmont: Thibaud
- GRELLET, Félix (1841). Chanteuges : son histoire, ses antiquités et ses traditions. Annales de la Société d'Agriculture, Sciences, Arts et Commerce du Puy
- MICHEL, Adolphe (1843). L'ancienne Auvergne et le Velay. Histoire, archéologie, moeurs, topographie IV. Atlas. Moulins
- MONCHALIN, Louis (1966). La fondation du monastère de Chanteuges : Exemple régional du renouveau monastique au Xe siècle. Cahiers de la Haute-Loire. Le Puy-en-Velay
- SAINT-MAUR, Congregació de (1720). Gallia Christiana in provincias ecclesiasticas distributa. Vol. 2. París: Typographia Regia
Chanteuges is located west of Le Puy-en-Velay and south of Brioude